The Systems Change Alliance share our view at Lowimpact.org that the climate change problem can’t be solved within the current economic system, which requires and generates perpetual growth and wealth concentration. Here, Roar Bjonnes explains that it’s capitalism’s growth imperative that renders it forever unsustainable. With COP26 over, a leaked report from the IPCC (The… Continue reading IPCC climate report: perpetual GDP growth is unsustainable Read more

We’d like to bring the Landworkers’ Alliance to your attention if you don’t know them already. They’re a wonderful organisation that could do with your support. You could help them in a small way by purchasing their beautiful 2022 calendar, or if you have a shop, ordering in bulk at a discount to sell on. Read more

Over five weeks we’re publishing a range of Stay Grounded factsheets about various kinds of techno-greenwashing provided by the aviation industry. Here we look at the promise of hydrogen-powered flight. Read more

At Lowimpact.org, we’ve been banging on about something called ‘mutual credit’ for about 3 or 4 years now – constantly trying to think of ways to explain it that can be grasped really quickly. We think it really is a world-changing idea – in that it can help keep wealth in communities, keep small businesses… Continue reading Explaining mutual credit to small business owners Read more

Over five weeks we’re publishing a range of Stay Grounded factsheets about various kinds of techno-greenwashing provided by the aviation industry. Here we look at the promise of electric-powered flight. Read more

Part 1 was about your lawn; Part 2 about your scythe and blade. Part 3 is about scything techniques for short grass. With a bit of practice, you don’t really need the plastic, resource use, electricity and noise involved with lawn-mowers. Read more

Here’s a conversation with Emmanuel Savard, co-founder of a group in Costa Rica that’s looking at providing all the essentials of life – food production, housing and energy – for their town via regenerative, non-extractive, sustainable, community-based exchange and investment models. Read more

Over the next five weeks we’ll be publishing a range of Stay Grounded factsheets about various kinds of techno-greenwashing provided by the aviation industry. We’d like to help expose the greenwashing of the aviation industry. First up – efficiency improvements: the lie that aviation can become carbon-neutral via ever-greater aircraft efficiency, reducing the need for… Continue reading Stop greenwashing of aviation: 1. efficiency improvements Read more

Part 1 was about your lawn; Part 2 is about your scythe and blade; and Part 3 about scything techniques for short grass. With a bit of practice, you don’t really need the plastic, resource use, electricity and noise involved with lawn-mowers. Read more

The IPCC recently conducted a study into the combined effects of all the agreed targets of the countries taking part in the ongoing COP talks. Tucked away in the report is this: “The available NDCs of all 191 Parties taken together imply a sizable increase in global GHG emissions in 2030 compared to 2010, of… Continue reading The problem with COP26 Read more

We’re often asked if it is possible to mow a lawn with a scythe. The answer is yes and there are many people in the UK doing just that! Lawn mowing can be a test of a scythers skill, it takes some thought and practice to do well. Here is a summary of the factors… Continue reading Using a scythe to cut your lawn, not a lawn-mower: Part 1 – the grass Read more

I was introduced to an interesting academic paper recently, in which Professor Jem Bendell explained that his predictions of societal collapse have been criticised by some in academia because they will engender fear, depression and apathy, which will harm our chances of solving environmental problems. Read more

In these days of gloom and confusion it is good to remember that our world is not ONE continuous story where everything inexorably gets worse – or better – but that our world is full of many stories that are unfolding in parallel. This weekend I was uplifted by the moving account of the holy… Continue reading Sacred forests of Ethiopia: how they can be recreated anywhere Read more

What I mean by system change is system replacement, rather than system tweaking (aka ‘prolonging the agony’). This raises (not begs – please, not begs) three questions: Read more

The Orchard Project are a superb group establishing and maintaining urban community orchards. The are beneficial in so many ways, including biodiversity, community cohesion, local food, carbon storage and human well-being. Here, they explain an approach called ‘nature-based solutions’. Read more

This is the third and final part of an interview with weaver and mutual credit enthusiast Eloise Sentito of These Isles, in which we talk about the prices of craft produce, and how mutual credit can help. Part 1 contained advice for anyone considering a career as a weaver, and part 2 was about the… Continue reading Craft production, prices and mutual credit: weaving Read more

We recently interviewed potter Tom Humphries, and he gave advice about making a living from making pottery. Here he gives advice for beginners about firing pottery in a small gas kiln. Read more

Here’s the third and final part of my interview with Caroline Bennett, founder of ‘Sole of Discretion’ (a community interest company that sells fish caught by a collective of small fishing boats in Devon) about why we should support small fishing boats over giant super-trawlers. We’re talking about how government quotas benefit super-trawlers and disadvantage… Continue reading Why we should support small fishing boats over super-trawlers, Part 3 Read more

If you read much about composting, you’ll soon come across the terms carbon:nitrogen ratio (often shortened to C:N ratio). Everything you put in your compost has a different C:N ratio. Materials such as grass and manure, known as ‘greens’, have a higher level of nitrogen, and ‘brown’ materials, such as paper, have a higher level… Continue reading Composting: explaining the carbon-nitrogen ratio Read more

At Lowimpact.org we’re interested in helping to bring production back to communities, and so we’re talking with craftspeople, smallholders, natural builders, renewables installers and small business owners in our range of topics. I’ll be asking them about their jobs, and for advice for people who might be interested in doing similar things. Read more